By Rebel News | Created at 2024-12-03 23:46:13 | Updated at 2024-12-04 18:56:12
19 hours ago
A Blacklock’s investigation uncovered no evidence the Canada Summer Jobs program employs youth that wouldn’t already be employed without hundreds of millions in subsidies.
“Despite the program being described as a job creation program, the Department of Employment does not collect data to know how many summer jobs the funding created,” said the Canada Summer Jobs audit.
The $285.6 million-a year program subsidized 50% of salaries to “approved employers” who hired full-time students for at least 16 weeks, including local businesses, charities and associations.
Auditors learned the department does not mandate employers to prove summer jobs would not be possible without funding, reported Blacklock’s.
“The department did not collect or analyze data to know how many summer jobs the funding created or to report on long term outcomes for participants in the program,” Auditor General Karen Hogan told the Commons public accounts committee.
“Our recommendation is about aligning those a little bit better so you can demonstrate the program is meeting its main objectives, and one of those is gathering information about job creation,” she said.
Of the 46,017 employers who applied last year, only 26,060 were approved for funding. Auditors wrote the annual program is bombarded with applications, hiring 74,527 summer employees.
Under the Canada Summer Jobs program, MPs determine which employers receive rebates for student salaries. It remains the only federal program where MPs vet applications.
“It is like free money,” said New Democrat MP Richard Cannings, who frequently rejects applications from larger businesses who would have “hired a student anyway without this funding.”
Auditor Hogan found gaps with how the Department of Employment balances the feedback it receives from MPs with the objectives of the program, and how the department encourages employers to hire youth.
Youth Minister Marci Ien did not address criticism, calling the Canada Summer Jobs program “a very desirable and meaningful program.” Applications for 2025 handouts opened November 19 and are set to close later this month.
In 2017, the Trudeau government forced applicants to sign an attestation supporting abortion and LGBTQ rights, a move which many Christian non-profits and charities said would compromise their religious beliefs.
Though a federal judge ruled employers could not be targeted by Ottawa, church petitioners fear the “values screening has moved behind closed doors.”
In 2019, they ordered applicants to complete a 15-step questionnaire to ensure they did not discriminate against the “sexual orientation or gender identity or expression” of students. By official estimate, 2,031 applicants did not receive funding in 2018 and 2019.
Meanwhile, a consulting firm led by radical trans activist, Fae Johnstone, has received CSJ funding thrice since 2020, totalling $9,658.
Rebel News encountered Johnstone in Regina for a keynote speech at the YWCA Women of Distinction Awards. She refused to take questions on whether critics should be violently targeted.
The activist recently testified on free speech at the Commons heritage committee, targeting parental rights activists, some who come from Christian backgrounds.
Alex Dhaliwal
Calgary Based Journalist
Alex Dhaliwal is a Political Science graduate from the University of Calgary. He has actively written on relevant Canadian issues with several prominent interviews under his belt.
